By Tyler Wright
Yarra Ranges Mountain Bikers is holding a trail event for female bikers on Sunday 5 March, encouraging women to get involved in the sport.
Riders will begin their trek at the Trail Cafe in Mount Evelyn and ride to Silvan trails.
“I’ve been in the sport for coming up to 30 years… and it’s really important to have an avenue for women that are wanting to ride with other women to have that space to join these groups,” women’s officer at Yarra Ranges Mountain Bikers Jane Ollerenshaw said.
“I’m mostly riding with men, but it’s quite a different dynamic to have all females riding together.”
Ms Ollerenshaw aims to run women’s biking events roughly every six weeks to connect female riders and “get more girls out on bikes”.
“If they’re with other female riders that may find some parts of the trails challenging, but they see another rider with a similar ability tackle it, they’ll be more likely to tackle it.”
“It’s such a lovely sound when you have a group of us riding down a hill all together, hollering and whooping and laughing.”
“If somebody doesn’t feel safe or confident riding a challenging obstacle, there’s no shame in getting off and walking down, no one’s going to make you feel silly, they’re just going to go ‘try that another day’ or ‘I don’t feel up to that today.'”
There are currently 232 members of Yarra Ranges Mountain Bikers, with 23 of those women.
But Ms Ollerenshaw said female participation in the sport is “booming”.
“Years ago when I started riding, I had to ride a man’s bike, It didn’t fit me too well. I’d have to wear men’s clothing. Now we’ve got everything that’s women’s specific; bikes, clothing, helmets, shoes,” she said.
“You go into the forest, you go ride anywhere, and there’s women everywhere now.
‘I’ve got [women] coming from Geelong to ride because they want to be part of the ride and ride some different trails with some different people and connect with other women.
With riders From Yarra Glen all the way to the Dandenong Ranges, women riders in the group range from their late teens to their 50s.
“You’ll be chatting away to somebody, no one actually cares what age any person is… when you’re all out riding, it doesn’t matter.”
For more information on Yarra Ranges Mountain Bikers, visit https://www.yrmtb.com.au/
